For the first time Welcome to Wrexham treats both fans and nonfans of the beautiful game to a 4-pack of episodes right at the apex of the team’s season, and timing could not be better as these make for a movie’s worth runtime of everything that makes footballs the world’s most popular sport.
Since purchasing Wrexham AFC, Ryan Reynolds himself has talked about his growing fascination with the game, perhaps lagging a bit behind his business partner Rob McElhenney, who’s clearly the bigger sports enthusiast here, and this week, the pair’s docuseries goes out to show why being a part this tiny club can bring so much joy to them, the local fans, and the viewers turned Wrexham fans that will be converted into the football religion. Sure, cutting room editing magic goes a long way to do that, but it makes Wrexham’s story no less fascinating.
After spending the past few weeks introducing the audience to the Wrexham community, the show now turns its focus to the real protagonists: the players. New signing “Big” Ollie Palmer is the first one to get the spotlight, and it’s impossible to imagine it being any other way as the 6’5” (1.96m) striker is the spark that propels Wrexham to the top of the league’s table, courtesy of he and Mullin tearing it up in Phil Parkinson's 4-4-2 formation.
It’s in these four episodes where all the pieces come together, as it’s now obvious that Palmer is not the kind of player that should be playing at the lowly Wrexham, hence his signing is only possible due to Reynolds and McElhenney. Similarly, the fans and people that work for the club don’t need any further profiling, as spectators know what kind of reactions to expect from them as the season progresses.
Suffice it to say, “Wins and Losses”, "Worst Team in the League", "A Hollywood Distraction", and "Daggers" are the plot payoff to all the story setup that’s been put in place in the 11 episodes that came before. Nevertheless, not every story has to have a happy ending. and sadly that becomes the case for Wrexham.
It’s not just about Palmer though, as hometown hero Jordan Davies and his girlfriend talk about some very personal matters, the loss of his child at birth, and how such events or even expecting a baby can impact a player’s life and performance. At their core, even elite athletes like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are just people, and for more cultured football fans Davies's story will remind them of the tragic loss of German goalkeeper Robert Enke.
Whether it's the loneliness of the keeper position, succumbing to injury as star shot stopper Rob Lainton does, or simply having to say goodbye to the likes of Cameron Green, these are parts of these men's careers as they get to live their dream of becoming footballers. These are folks that live, breathe and eat football, as exemplified by some squad members playing FIFA in their spare time, a hobby preferred by many stars who’ve become popular Twitch streamers, such as Neymar, Sergio Agüero or Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Throughout these four episodes both Wrexham the team and its series hit their stride, something possibly best seen by the relatively little involvement Reynolds and McElhenney have this week. Except for Reynolds’ trip to Wrexham to shoot one of his signature hilarious Deadpool-style ads, Welcome to Wrexham feels more like a proper sports documentary, rather than something crafted by the two actors.
It’s here where Welcome to Wrexham proves, to quote Ted Lasso’s Dani Rojas, that “Football is life”, it comes with plenty of up and downs, it’s a rollercoaster of emotions, and ultimately, oftentimes it makes very little sense. Watching Wrexham go on a winning run and pulling off insurmountable comebacks is exciting, no matter that the series relies on last’s season’s footage, so don’t be surprised to feel drawn to Wrexham as a fan when the show ends.
Even then, football is very unpredictable, and in the same way it can be tough to watch over a Football Manager game or hit the simulate button in FIFA’s career mode, Wrexham’s fate lies beyond the money invested by Reynolds and McElhenney. As it turns out, this sensational winning spell comes just a tad too late, meaning Wrexham fall a couple of games short of trumping Stockport County for the league title, and more importantly, promotion to League Two football.
In every other tier above the National League, second place guarantees promotion, but this is not FIFA nor the Premier League, so it’s here where Welcome to Wrexham really hammers down the point that escaping fifth division hell is incredibly hard. If these four episodes were quite the thrill, then next week’s trifecta finale will send shivers down many paople's spines.
As a football fan, it’s really an amazing time to be alive as the Wrexham dream lives on in FIFA alongside Ted Lasso’s wholesome inclusion. More than that, Welcome to Wrexham’s popularity in America confirms the Ted Lasso effect and the type of visionaries Reynolds and McElheney were when they came up with the most entertaining way to get by their midlife crisis, and it’s an absolute delight to watch.